Clothesline reel



.March 22', 1949. H. B. STUART CLOTHESLINE REEL Filed May 9, 1945 INVENTOR.

BY fiamer'fismarc' ATTORNEY FIG.3.

Patented Mar. 22, 1949 ECLOTHESLINE REEL fHomer" B. "'Stu'art, Grosse Pointe, L.Mich., :assignor to Detroit "Magnetic .Inspection Company, .a

partnership Application May 9, 1945,?SerialrNo.r:59 T-Eletims. (011242-1100) This inventiontrela't'es to l'oth'es lineirels'and an object .of the invention is to adapt a reel for "convenient "use "in' stretching a clothes line and holding it taut/to eliminate undue sagging under the weighto'f clothes.

'Other objects are "to *aiford a considerable mechanical advantage in-'winding a" line on said reel and to adapt aline 'to b'esecuredtquite simply and quickly to the reel, preliminary to winding.

These and various other objects are attained by the construction 'hereinaft-erdescribed and ililustratedwin the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational viewcofr-the improved reel in use.

Fig. 2 is"a top"planwiew'ofthe'reel.

Fig.8. shows the reel in iendielevation.

IFig.4:ista .cross sectional Viewataken onith'e line i- 'tofFig. 1.

Fig.'5 -is=a sectional detail -o'f 2a pivotal :pawl, -'ta'ken: on the line 5-5 of Fig.4

-Fig. -'6isa fragmentary endrview of a -knob'for :rrotatingftl're reel.

in these-views, the referencevcharacter l-.desigmates a winding arbor formed preferably by a 'tube which :is centrally journaled in a .pair .of spaced parallel sheet metal plates 2 and2a,."between which a'line may becon'fined on said-tube. Said plates are similarly formed with extensions which are bent toward each other as indicated at 3 and are then extendedeontiguously.and in r-parallelism .to jointly form .asupporting .arm 4. Thus the plates 2 and Za'form bearings'tore'ceive the arbor l and said plates, with the arm 4, comprise a hanger for mounting said arbor. The margins of the plates 2 are rolled over upon the inner faces of said plates to form reinforcing beads 5 and the extensions 3, 4 are marginally flanged inward as indicated at 6, the flanges of said extensions mutually abutting in the arm 4. The free end portion of said arm is formed with an opening traversing the abutting members of the arm and an eyelet I fitted in said opening has its ends expanded to hold it in the opening and to hold said members in their abutting relation. To further rigidly interconnect said members they have portions 8 indented into mutual engagement and welded together. The eyelet 1 adapts the hanger to be slipped over a clothesline hook 9 or some other suitable line support.

One end of the tube I terminates substantially at the plate 2 being formed with several tongues 9a upset against the outer face of said plate. The tube projects some distance beyond the other plate 212 and terminally rigidly carries a large i2 circular .sheet metal actuating I-knob 110, secured eon the tubelby .to'ngues H terminally formed on the .latter and upsetagainst .the outer'face of the knob.

i'In exterior, proiimi'tyto'l the plate 2 a,"a circular "series of tongues Tare struck "tangentially out of the Tarb'or I "to form -ratchet teeth 12 'coacting witha' pawl l3:pivoted-'at"l lon said plate. -"Ihes'e teeth furthermore coact *with "theto'ngues 9a to "prevent-anyrelative movement of-th-e'hangeran'd "arbor endWise of .thelatter. Coiled on "the pivot "pin *M within the pawl is a spring 15 urging 'the pawl against thetube andalu'g 'l't' struckoiitof the plate '-2a prevents any i greater swinging -of the pawl than is necessary to disengage git from the teeth T 2.

'Between the plates :2 and 1 2a and adjacent to "the lformer, La ilin'e r-eceivin'g perforation =11 -.is forme'dlin the tube l andi'sis elongate'dfcircumferentiallyzo'i the .tube,:said op'eningihaving one end prioportioned to 'readily accommodate a "clothes :line, I'and 'rb'e'in'g :tpro'gressively reduced toward its "other end. The direction in' whichsaidzperforation extends 'itoward its reduced end is reversed to :that z in which the tube turns -f0r winding on :a .Lline. Interiorly :adjacent to :each plate :2 and "1221., :tongu'e's l 8 :Iarewstruo'k =out-'of*-the tube, :serving ito :mai'ntain a ;-proper spaced :relation of :said :plates.

In useof the described reel'totightenaclothes .=.lin'e,:suchz lineiswseeured atone endand' extended on "suitable ho'oks "or the like (not :shown) in the customary manner to form such spans as are required. To anchor the final span, the line extremty is thrust into the perforation l1 and out through the open end of the tube, until the slack in the span or spans is at least loosely taken up. The arm 4 is now engaged with the hook 9 and the arbor l is rotated by its knob ill in a clockwise directlon with reference to Fig. 4. This rotation draws the line into the reduced end of the perforation ll, so that it will not slip. As the line is thus wound on the arbor, its span or spans are drawn taut, the leverage afforded by the large knob being such that a very considerable tension may be applied, if desired. Upon release of the knob E0, the line will remain tensioned, since the described pawl and ratchet teeth will not permit reverse rotation of the arbor. When the line is to be taken down the pawl may be readily released from the ratchet teeth, Whereupon tension of the line will quickly unwind it.

The described appliance is quite simple and inexpensive and will largely eliminate need for the props now commonly used to prevent sagging of clothes lines.

What I claim is:

1. In a line reel, a hanger comprising a pair of spaced bearings, a tubular winding arbor journaled in said bearings and projecting beyond one of said bearings, a handle for rotating the arbor mounted on the arbor at one side of the hanger, a circular set of ratchet teeth struck out of the arbor adjacent to the hanger and between the hanger and handle, said teeth coacting with the hanger to resist endwise movement of the arbor in the hanger, and a detent pivoted on the hanger and coacting with the ratchet teeth to resist unwinding rotation of the arbor.

2. In a line reel, a tubular arbor, a hanger forming a pair of spaced bearings for said arbor and having a supporting arm projecting oppositely to said bearings, a set of ratchet teeth struck out of said arbor in exterior proximity to one of said bearings, a detent pivoted on the lastmentioned bearing for engagement with said ratchet teeth, and an actuating handle on one end of the arbor, the other arbor end being open and a circumferentially elongated aperture being formed in the arbor between its bearings through which aperture a line may be passed through the open end of the arbor, said aperture being relatively restricted in one of its end portions to afford wedging of the line in such end portion.

3. In a line reel, a tubular arbor, a hanger forming a pair of spaced bearings for the arbor and formed with a supporting arm, a set of ratchet teeth carried by the arbor, a detent pivoted on the hanger for engagement with said teeth, an actuating handle on one end of the arbor, the other arbor end being open and a circumferentially elongated aperture being formed in the arbor between its bearings, through which aperture a line may be passed through the open end of the arbor, said aperture being relatively restricted in one of its end portions to afiord wedging of the line in such end portion.

4. In a line reel, the combination with a tubular winding arbor, of a circular sheet metal knob abutting an end of said arbor, the arbor being terminally formed with a plurality of spaced tongues extended through the knob and upset against the outer face of the knob.

5. In a line reel, a hanger comprising a pair of spaced bearings, a tubular winding arbor journaled in said bearings and formed with struckout tongues between and adjacent to the bearings, and further formed with a struck-out set of ratchet teeth adjacent to the outer face of one of the bearings, a detent pivoted on the hanger and coacting with said ratchet teeth to resist unwinding rotation of the arbor, and an actuating handle on the arbor.

6. A hanger for a clothes line reel comprising a pair of spaced substantially parallel plates, similarly formed with extensions which are bent toward each other and are further bent to jointly form a supporting arm, marginal portions of said plates being rolled to form a reinforcing bead and marginal portions of said extensions being bent toward each other to form reinforcing flanges, said flanges mutually abutting on the arm-forming portions of said extensions, and an eyelet set into the arm and holding together the extensions forming said arm.

7. In a reel, a tubular winding arbor, open at an end thereof to accommodate a line to be wound on such arbor and formed in proximity to said open end with an aperture elongated circumferentially of the arbor and having a relatively restricted end portion to further receive and wedgingly retain said line.

HOMER B. STUART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are'of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France June 20, 1902 Number Number 

